A few weeks ago I published an article about a growing trend with indie sound fx libraries. The issue? Sound library sales are becoming more frequent, with deeper discounts each time. The result is that while promotions result in great savings for customers and quick cash for publishers, the perception of value for sound fx is quickly diminishing.
That post, The Downward Spiral of Sound Library Sales, was meant to be food for thought so that sound publishers could find an approach for sharing sound that’s best for them.
Many people shared opinions – both critical and supportive – to the ideas in the post. It was fascinating to hear everyone’s perspective. I’d like to draw on those comments for a future post about solutions to the downward spiral. In the meantime, though, I’ll share a few long-form articles on the topic from others.
The first is an article by field recordist Christian Hagelskjaer From, whom you may know from his Hzandbits Sound Effects Web shop. In his post Value over price: Why I will no longer offer constant discounts and sales, Christian describes his perspective on sales for digital products – both as a consumer and a publisher. It’s a must-read especially for his breakdown of the idea of value for digital products, for which he gives concrete tips to apply to your own work.
I also was forwarded an article from the folks over at Empty Vessel. The post Pricing: Why I decided not to do intro discounts or sales any more outlines their decision to end promotions with a well-reasoned and thoughtful perspective. I’d recommend reading it if you are considering adjusting your approach to sound library sales; it is an excellent source of inspiration for bringing up the topic with your own fans.
That post also mentions popular plug-in publisher Valhalla DPS’s decision to skip promotions, presented elegantly in a YouTube video:
Of course, those are just three of the many perspectives on the issue.
Whichever your stance, I think we can all agree that it is vital to cultivate value in the field recordings, sound design compositions, and samples and patches we share with the world.
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